


Involute

by BlueDarknessIceHeart



Category: Destiny (Video Games)
Genre: Awkward Flirting, Awoken History, Destiny 2, Developing Relationship, F/M, Friends to Lovers, Injury, Lore spoilers, Pre-Canon, Pre-Relationship, Weapons, lore based
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-05
Updated: 2019-06-30
Packaged: 2019-07-25 17:29:07
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 5,237
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16202252
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BlueDarknessIceHeart/pseuds/BlueDarknessIceHeart
Summary: in·vo·lute: involved or intricate; curled spirally.“You’re forcing away your own brother for the sake of things that most wouldn’t consider risking family over. It doesn’t exactly sit well.”Mara’s laugh was short, almost mocking.“You almost sound like you genuinely care for him. I do what is best for everyone, whether you see it that way or not.”This work references the Awoken of the Reef, Marasenna, and The Forsaken Prince lore books. Tags are updated each chapter.





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Revanche III & Brephos II

Acantha’s life had never been simple; with a talent for slipping into the shadows and picking up traces of things most people would rather stay hidden, enough of what made the Awoken uniquely powerful in her veins to warrant her finding herself in the position she did. 

She had been there, out in the far reaches of spaces with the rest, when the collapse happened. Had survived whatever it was, exactly, that had shifted everyone from trying to bring life to new places to clinging to bare threads of it. 

Acantha was one of the few that tended to others without question, had found herself tangled with Mara and Uldren in the blink of an eye long before titles ever touched their names. 

Her work with Uldren had begun slow and silent, simply another weapon carrying body at his sister’s side or in the shadows. It isn’t until they are prodding about Earth that they talk, and Acantha’s camera catches the footage that shows exactly what the Fallen are.

It is the one part they don't show to tittering onlookers, the storybook opening that tells they've found their ancestors huddling under a barely there Traveler. The distinct mark against doing anything to help them because of the Fallen littered everywhere in the system, how easily they could be tracked down and turned to ruin, is something she keeps note of.

She finds herself in the same room as Mara and Sjur Eido, Uldren anesthetized and his sister’s hands diligently removing fragments of Fallen metal from scarred over wounds. Their lack of conversation hadn’t kept her from holding him as something she was at least partially responsible for in the field. Sjur pokes Uldren hard in the gut, directly where metal had left a raw burn, and even while under he snarls. Acantha knows she shouldn’t push herself further into the room, but she works her way in between the other two and with a cold look bats Sjur’s hand away. 

“He’s not a toy.” 

She can feel the look from Mara, intrigue and anger all mixed into one increasingly dangerous brew the longer she keeps herself planted between the two of them and even placing herself partially between Sjur and Uldren. 

“Acantha, yes?” 

Mara Sov’s smooth tone had never been exactly calming to her, and it definitely wasn’t now. 

“Yes.” 

“Since you seem to be so _protective_ of my dear brother, why don’t you come get the rest of this metal out of him so that we can analyze it?” 

Acantha turned her head to meet Mara’s gaze; moving slowly and carefully around Sjur to take her place. Medical procedures had always been relatively easy for her, and plucking the solidified slag out of Uldren’s neck and torso was no different, her focus pulling entirely away from the other two women who shifted away, hushed conversation the only noise that filled the room outside of the occasional plink of metal into the collection glass. 

“He rips himself to shreds for you and you hardly acknowledge his presence - for what? Secrets that are going to gnaw holes in you over time?” 

Her hands didn't shake when she carefully pulled away dead skin, ignoring the lack of Sjur Eido in the room as she gently worked a salve over the wound. 

“Uldren said you had spirit, but I never thought I’d hear Sjur’s words from another person’s mouth.” 

Acantha didn’t want to leave Uldren alone until he was fully conscious, but she at least turned her gaze to Mara. 

“You’re forcing away your own brother for the sake of things that most wouldn’t consider risking _family_ over. It doesn’t exactly sit well.” 

Mara’s laugh was short, almost mocking. 

“You almost sound like you genuinely care for him. I do what is best for everyone, whether you see it that way or not.”

Her eyes shifted from the elder Sov sibling to the younger, the groan from Uldren having her full attention back to him. 

“Who the hell _hit me_?” 

“Oh, y’know, Sjur.” 

She helped him sit up, careful to avoid the wounds that were still newer, passively noting the distinct and sudden absence of Mara. 

“You really shouldn’t wrestle with anymore Fallen like that.” 

Uldren’s chuckle was low, grin crooked and relaxed for once. 

“I’ll bring twice as many knives next time.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Cosmogyre III, Cosmogyre IV, Ecstasiate I, Ecstasiate II, Nigh I, Nigh II

Stars glinted off the material of her helmet, tether keeping her in place while she pulled Uldren into place beside her. The whispers of riot - the unsettled numbers under Mara’s not quite rule wanting to return to Earth - having the two of them fixing up their ships side by side. 

_ Just in case _ hung like an unspoken promise between the two of them, towards the people that felt like all they had was the Reef. Acantha knew Uldren’s went to Mara, could see the worry about how sideways this could go in the lines etching their way into his face. 

“It’s interesting to see the friction and discontent amongst everyone not work in Mara’s favour for once.” 

Her voice is soft, and the look Uldren gives her is one of partial curiosity. 

“How much do you  _ really _ know, Acantha?” 

She tips her head, shooting him a crooked smile, wrench in hand. “Do you remember the Theodicy War?” The nod she gets in return is short and quick, his focus shifting mostly back to the task at hand.

“I know Mara started it, worked Alis Li off of her throne and worked her strings to maneuver everything the way she wanted it to go. I know she kept everyone on edge and at odds with everything at their fingertips for her benefit - now look where we are.” 

She pushed off of the side of her ship, carefully moving under it, watching him move in relative parallel to her. 

“I know that that tether feels far too much like a leash with no end.” 

“You know an awful lot for someone that’s only just found their way under my sister’s thumb.” The bite to his tone had her sighing, half tempted to chuck a loose bolt or three at him. 

“You forget that I was almost always in a nearby shadow, Uldren. Even back on Yang Liwei.”

She watches his expression shift, the near grimace of pain from the memory. Acantha had always been one of the ones nearby during his prize fights, smart enough to keep her mouth shut about them even though Captain Li knew anyways. She’d tried to keep him fairly intact, could only fix so many breaks and open wounds at that age before the Skyshock. 

“I’m surprised you still remember those days.” 

“Kind of hard not to, we all  _ did _ get torn to molecular shreds. I think. That part’s fuzzy, probably for good reason.” 

The crackle of their comms had her brow furrowing and Uldren’s arching - most never bothered the two of them unless at Mara’s request. Sjur Eido’s voice met them with mild irritation, not giving either of them a chance to ask what was needed, “Mara’s coronation is going to be starting soon, her brother and his shadow are going to be required presences at the ceremony.” 

Uldren’s response is quiet but the jerk of his head back towards the rest of the dock has her trailing after him, sighing with a shake of her head. 

“Does this mean I have to put on the uniform?” 

His laugh has her jabbing him in the ribs in retaliation, only letting up when he bats her away before they come into public view. 

“Still not fond of the purple and gold?” 

“Absolutely not, Uldren, it’s too rich for my tastes and entirely impractical for my work - you know that.” 

He tosses her a look over his shoulder, pausing before splitting off to go change into clothes far less grease spotted. “Just wear the sash at least, marks you as more than just a  _ shadow. _ ”


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Revanche V, Telic I
> 
>  
> 
> My spring semester is coming to an end so I can finally kinda do things I want to again.

There was no official uniform for many of them in the Reef, but those that stuck by the Sov’s sides were much easier to find in a crowd than most. Sjur was often the easiest to pick out; tall and graceful with the trappings of Mara’s closest. The pink and purple woven with the little hints of gold, marked solely as Mara’s near right hand by the circled crown pin that kept her cloak in place.

Acantha, outside of certain events, was much harder to find. She disliked the attention, only wanted to work alongside Uldren without the glint of gold or silver to mark her as someone significant. Her clothing lacked the pinks of Sjur’s, traded out for blues and the same purple of both Sov siblings. As unused to all the trappings of significance she was, the woman did her best to appear fit for her position.

“Acantha your cloak is on crooked.” 

Pale blue eyes blink up at Uldren’s gold, gently tugging on the cloth that attached to her chest piece on her right shoulder.

“It drapes oddly, sometimes, considering the shape - and I couldn’t get the pin on quite right.” She gives a huffed sigh, fidgeting with the silver-white pin at the edge of her cloak on her shoulder. She doesn’t expect Uldren to unclasp the pin and fix it, but he does so without a word. Acantha reaches a hand up and gently flicks an out of place piece of hair back to its proper side before giving a deep bow, holding back laughter. “After you, your highness.”

Mara’s coronation is short, even with Sjur and Acantha both standing next to their Queen and Prince. Acantha blinks to refocus her vision, her hood up and gaze focus more on the horizon than the elder Sov.

“- for the first time in my life, I hesitated to reach for power, and now one in three of you are gone. I cannot deny what the cosmos has made of me any longer. I am your one and rightful Queen." She can see that people don’t want to reject her rule, but they fear it as well. Someone that can speak in their thoughts that they followed under the promise of hardships and death was not someone easily refused.

The first order of business is the formation of the Techeuns. Acantha is there in the shadows, just in hearing distance, still watching. The first to see the Fallen Ketch decloak, the first to get Uldren’s attention.

The ketch is gutted in seconds, but the Fallen still descend upon the Reef as timid of fighting as the newly mortal Awoken. Sjur is the one to take after the Baron of the ketch in a powered combat shell, but their new Queen stood only with pistol and dagger and tore into the enemies. Uldren was her shadow and Acantha his, two wraiths that flanked a blur of silver and blue.

The battle was nearly as short as Mara’s coronation, fuel to Mara’s fire of trying to bring her people home. Acantha had pulled aside those that fled, so afraid of death, and stood before them in ether stained blue and purple with the pin on her shoulder that got their attention proper.

“Fear is how you _die_. You are scared yet fascinated by the unknown. Embrace it, not foolishly, but with an understanding. You can not fight what you do not know, and you can not fear shadows.”

She would never admit to being shaken on some level, but she’d stared down death as much as Uldren. Brushing fingertips with the loss of her life every time they left the Reef, thrilling in the chase of it. Bound to Uldren’s side by mutual understanding of the thin line they walked, tact and healing tangled with their ability to kill and die.

 ----

It’s the delight and the contentedness that rolls off of them in waves that puts others on edge. Before Acantha had slid into the light at Uldren’s side, it was just the newly appointed Prince that was all too happy to dance with death and come out on the other side. It makes the aftermath manageable for the two of them, keeps the unnecessary out of the way and lets them lazer focus on their tasks. Uldren takes Illyn and looks through the communication logs, hours spent digging for a possible threat in a transmission. Acantha returns to her shadows, sweeps the entirety of the debris and carnage that’s left for anything left behind, transmitters and weapons alike - if it’s a threat or a learning opportunity she takes it with her.

Acantha sidles into what was becoming the communications room rather quickly, settling back against one of the walls. Watching the Sov siblings had become nearly a trait of hers, shaping her relative skill at getting under Mara’s skin and needling at thoughts and secrets the new Queen thought well kept. “Their Baron never transmitted our position to his Kell. He wanted the prize to himself. We remain secure." Uldren spoke with the same energy he carried, that delight that made Mara sharper.

“The Baron might have planted a time-delayed beacon, never underestimate these beings. They've lived in the void longer than us." Cold and calculated, even towards her brother. Acantha stepped forwards with a push of her shoulder against the wall, stil draped in blue and purple officiality and the glint of silver on her chest raising Mara’s brow. She swept a hand out to her side, drawing attention to the pile of technology and weapon parts she’d collected. “I swept through everything. No beacons, no transmitters. Just dead bodies and the parts they left behind.”

Uldren beat Mara to the punch, a certain gleam to his eyes as he looked from Acantha to the pile. “I already admire them.” He moved from his sister to crouch down by the weapons, taking one of the rifles into his hands as he stood back up. He turns his head towards his sister, testing the weight of the gun in his grip. "They've lost so much. Some of them even ritually dismember themselves, Mara, to prove they have the strength to grow back the missing limbs. I tell you that even if we are doomed to dwindle and go extinct, those Fallen may outlive us."

Acantha was the one to see the small shift in Mara’s expression, her own small smile at Uldren’s words not as easily visible from the shadows she’d shifted back into. Mara’s disinterest was as practiced as her dismissiveness of her brother, and it made part of Acantha bristle, even when she and Uldren had left the room.

“You and I can take a few of the still working guns out for a test run, _Prince_.” her grin was cocky, nearly as much as Uldren’s, even as he shook his head. “Oh, don’t let the techeun’s hear you. They might drop dead at the thought.”

The establishment of the Paladins came soon after their conversation with Mara, and Acantha noted the mimicry offhand to Uldren of Alis Li back during the Theodicy War with the installation of the first few in the Reef. The Corsairs followed swiftly behind the entry of the Paladins, the secrecy bound spacefarers that still had a uniform. Sjur Eido had long been the unspoken guard of the Queen, but her creep up the ladder was a trigger pulled, and Acantha woke to Uldren at her door one morning with a new pin in his hand. It was small and an iridescent black that glinted with the bright colours it hid when he opened his palm to let her see it properly. She sat half awake in her bed, Uldren having settled in on the edge and let her take her time with looking it over, plucking it out of his hand to look at it closer. A crow with a small diamond pattern carved along the edge of the circle that framed it.

“This looks far too important for some sort of gift, Uldren.” Acantha turned her gaze from the pin in her hand to her friend and partner, squinting at him to the point her nose wrinkled and he gave a soft snort of a laugh. “Your face will freeze like that, you know.” She shoved his hip with her foot, holding the pin up with a small wiggle.

“So tell me what’s it for then, instead of dodging the question like your sister.”

He gave a sigh, turning to face her fully. “I’m establishing a...network. Next to me you’re one of the best at going unnoticed and gathering intelligence, you have a particular knack for finding things that can be reworked into our favour and you execute that level of modifying impressively well when it comes to technology.”

“You know very well I don’t want to be part of the political circus ring, Uldren.” It was the way she pulled away from him, tucking her legs back and not holding her hand out quite as far, that had him rolling his eyes.

“Spies tend to not be in the political ring unless they fuck up, Acantha, and you don’t fuck up.”

“Oh why thank you, my dear Prince.” She returned the eye roll, adjusting back into her more relaxed state. “That still doesn’t explain the pin you handed over. I feel like spies don’t need the trappings of officiality.”

His chuckle was low and she quirked a brow upwards in response. “Leaders need the trappings, to an extent. You’ll be right alongside me, just like always. If you accept the offer, of course.” Acantha held the pin up, tilting it this way and that to watch the colours shift amidst the black of the metal. “You do realize I’m usually behind you, that’s where the whole Shadow nickname comes from.”

“Physically yes, but in reality you’ve been right in step with me since we were barely teenagers.”

She slid the pin back down to hold it in her palm, closing her hand around it with a soft sigh, giving him a small smile. “Fine, I’ll take you up on it. _But,_ you and I lay the groundwork first before we pull in anyone else, got it?”  It wasn’t unusual for them to be a little more affectionate in ways with each other, having grown up as the 891 and being reborn under the same number side by side, but she didn’t expect the hug from him - no matter how quick or surprisingly tight it was. She still pat his shoulder, holding back a laugh at the embarrassed tint to his cheeks.

“So, what name do we get, hm?”

“The Crows.”

Her eye roll was expected, especially with the grin on his face. “That is. Impressively on target for you, and explains the pin a lot more.” She set the pin down on the table she had near her bed.

“You wouldn’t have me any other way, now would you?”

“Oh absolutely not, it’s a gold mine for whenever something goes sideways.”


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Telic I 
> 
> I meant to write+post this way sooner but y'know, depression doesn't work like that.

It wasn’t long after Acantha started wearing the pin that Uldren had given her that Sjur Eido had adornments of her own, the same colours that marked her as part of Mara’s circle now glinting with more gold accents and the crown pin clipped at her collarbone. Acantha made a point of staying mostly out of Sjur’s way, the large bow she carried and her growing devotion to Mara keeping her aside. She watched, as always, but did not interfere. Acantha liked toying with death but did not wish to face it down in the form of Mara’s personified wrath. 

However, she still kept pace with Uldren; even as their responsibilities increased with the gradual build of the reef. Mara wanted her brother for a meeting, and Acantha was there early in the morning to help soothe nerves.

“Quit fidgeting, you’re going to get stabbed.” She was carefully pinning his cloak into place, and he kept switching his focus from his hair to her own cloak. 

“You’d never hurt a hair on my head, Acantha.” 

“Uldren I’ve pulled _glass_ out of you, and I know for a fact it hurt.”

The grin she got was edging on cocky, and she sighed. She gave one final adjustment of out of place cloth on him, tucking a stray edge of his shirt back under the light metal he wore. “You have to actually look the part of a Prince to some level, I don’t see why you’re fussing over me since I just slink around.” 

Uldren started walking before she did, falling in pace with him fairly easily, pushing silver-white hair back from her face. “You do have to look as good as I do to some degree, little shadow.” 

She smacked him on the shoulder, slipping away and near the wall as he walked into the room where Mara waited, door shutting behind him. She stayed close enough to hear, but was mindful not to be seen by anyone walking by. 

The Sov siblings were never difficult to hear in the years she’d known them. Mara had always had that edge of a commanding tone that now carried in her adult years, and she’d always been able to pick out Uldren’s voice in any crowd; a useful trick for bandaging him up back on the ship when they were younger.

"Never again can I allow my people to be divided,” She could hear the click of Mara’s heels as she circled the table, a familiar movement when she was keeping herself steady, “We must offer them more than shielding ice and cold habitat cylinders and the warrens of Vesta. We must make a culture, a thread that binds us all in pride and wonder at the mystery of ourselves. Nowhere does culture flourish better than in a city."

Uldren’s sigh wasn’t what she expected, or the soft thud of his shoulders hitting the wall. “Gather in one place and you make yourself a target, sister.” There was an unspoken addition, the lingering promise of _just like those on earth._ She and Uldren had been the first ones to see the remnants of humanity, to see camps swarmed by Fallen, how they tried to gather and fortify every other month and it did nothing. 

There was a lengthy pause, the shift of armored shoulders against metal near where she stood, her bright eyes closing to focus past the electric hum of the reef to hear. "Go forth and find me a power unknown to all the other powers of this world.” She could hear Mara get closer, Uldren shifting off of the wall. “Return it to me, and I shall make of it the cornerstone of my new city, where the Awoken shall dream of all they have been and all that is yet to come."

Uldren gave a dip of his head before slipping out of the room, Acantha emerging from the shadows moments later to walk at his side. She glanced at him from the corner of her eye, his expression grim and gaze locked to the floor in front of him. She waited, walking quick-paced in silence until the two of them were hidden away in his quarters. 

“Would you like a companion on this voyage, Uldren?” Acantha kept her tone soft, her arms folding across her chest as she watched him. 

“I don’t know what she’s planning-” 

“None of us ever do. That is your sister in her entirety; a lie wrapped in gossamer silk to keep her plans in motion and people enthralled with her capabilities.” 

The softness had left her tone only slightly, pulling his golden gaze up to her own. She watched him somehow deflate further, his head dropping down and his shoulders drooping, the rigidity he always held himself up with to seem fit of being the Queen’s brother gone in an instant. Acantha settled down on the bed next to him, bumping him with her shoulder. 

“You don’t have to do this alone, you know.” 

She got a nudge in return, his head lifting to peer at her past his hair. “I don’t know what would please her in the slightest.” 

“Does it matter?” 

Acantha let the silence hang, keeping eye contact with him until he sighed and leaned more onto her. “I...suppose not.” 

“She asked for power. That could be a Kell or an old engram.” 

He gave a quick huff of air through his nose, shaking his head. “Would you like to share a ship or take yours separately then?”

Acantha pressed back into his lean, nearly toppling the two of them over. “We’re sharing your ship, it’s faster and bigger anyways. Now quit looking like someone kicked your dog, we get to go exploring.”

“Head out tomorrow then?” Uldren shifted, letting them both fall over fully while Acantha hummed. “I don’t see why not. Pack up tonight, leave a little after dawn.”

It was what they had always done, pick up and leave to go chasing new things and to trip along edges for the sake of their curiosity. The only time it was spoiled was when he leaned too far into trying to gain his sister’s affection. 

“Where would you like to start, then?” She quirked a brow upwards, mindful to not jab him in the side with her elbow as she shifted. 

“I’d say Jupiter or those newer spans of rock that are nearby. We’ve gotten a few Corsair reports of them being mostly barren, except for what they think may be a newer form of life.” 

Acantha’s grin was sharp, pulling a smile to Uldren’s face with her confident and amused tone. “Sounds like a plan, _Prince_.”


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No lore ref for this one, we're making our own backstories now.

They started with Jupiter, the planet one of the few places besides Venus and Io that they knew to hold any potential.

“Do you remember those studies the Ishtar ran on those beasts before the Collapse?” Acantha’s question was tinged with genuine curiosity as she worked her way up the cliff they’d followed a trail to.

“Wish dragons?” Uldren gave a tilt of his head, hopping around his partner to a small outcrop to look out at the horizon.

“Yeah, you think they’re still around at all? Figured humans would have driven them off by now, especially since they keep trying to rebuild.”

“I don’t think they’d bother with the humans again until they manage to re-establish and branch back out, or the dragons deem them an investment of some sort.”

Uldren watched Acantha scooch in next to him, hand going to the back of her thigh from where he sat to help steady her when she wavered moving around him. “You’re usually not one to lose your balance this early, little shadow.”

“I’m also usually not scaling anything this early either.” she gave a small swat to his hand so that she could sit, back pressed against the cliff face. They were quiet, Acantha watching the horizon with a small smile on her face and Uldren at her side. Uldren carefully untucked a notepad from his pack, making notes while they were still, only stilling over time as Acantha slowly slid down and against his shoulder. He gave a soft sigh, shifting ever so slightly to be able to keep writing without disturbing her, gently flicking her hood up over her head to keep the sun out of her eyes.

  
\---

Uldren waited, making small adjustments here and there to keep Acantha from slipping off of his shoulder and face first into the rock they were on. He knew she hadn't slept properly the night before they left, and definitely didn’t in the ship - her hands always busy tinkering with one of the Fallen’s tech she’d pulled after the attack or writing frantically in her own notebook. He’d never quite managed to see it fully, but the loop of her handwriting always got straighter when she was upset, and that had been all he’d seen from the glimpses he took while she worked. He had tucked his own notebook back away long before Acantha made a small noise, turning her head to press closed eyes against his shoulder with a quick almost nuzzle, head turning to press her cheek against him instead. She stayed there, effectively muffling her voice as she spoke.

“How long was I out?”

Uldren carefully flicked the hood back off of her head, letting her sit up properly at her own pace. “Couple of hours. We should probably head back to the ship and head for the new area closer to the reef, since we’ve only found old tracks and not much else here.”

When Acantha’s hand plopped over his mouth, all clumsy movement and dazed looking eyes ringed with dark circles and a mumbled “too many words, Uldren” he sighed; setting her back against the cliff face and standing. Uldren hooked her bag up onto his shoulder with his own, before unceremoniously scooping up his partner, letting her cling to him as he made his way back down as easily as he’d gotten up.

  
\---

Acantha arched her brow, squinting slightly against the intense sunlight peeking over the horizon. “No wonder the Corsairs have taken to calling this place the tangled shore.” She’d moved before Uldren, backing up to take off in a sprint to fling herself over a gap in the rocks.

Uldren let her lead, watching her scan the ground for any type of indication the reports they’d been handed had been true. He followed behind her, sighing softly at how old some of the prints she pointed out looked. He had caught up to her, Acantha stilling at the mouth of a cave.

They both heard the echoing click of claws, Acantha slinking into the cave and down a winding paths with Uldren on her heels. She crouched down behind a rock, a wide grin on her face.

“Are you thinking what I’m thinking?” she was whispering, leaning around slightly to peek at what looked like a pale slip of light darting around a small room.

“That the reports of the Corsairs relating the life forms they saw to old tales of wish dragons were true? Depends on what you’re looking at.”

She gave a quick nod before sliding around the side of the rock, keeping her movements slow and her form close to the ground. The bright, quick moving shape stilled, and Acantha was met with a small lizard-like creature, the little thing blinking multiple eyes at her, cocking its head to the side.

Acantha carefully pulled a small scrap of meat out of her pack, holding it out and watching the creature scuttle over. She let it sniff and slowly work up onto her hand, eventually curling around her wrist.

“It looks brand new.” Uldren’s voice made her startle, holding his hand out tentatively to run a finger tip down the back of the reptile curled around her arm.

“It looks like those old drawings of the wish dragons, and it’s alone.”

The creature opened its mouth, small rows of sharp teeth showing and the rumble that followed morphed quickly into Uldren’s voice, softer and unsteady.

_”Ahamkara.”_

The two Awoken looked to each other, Acantha’s eyes wide and bright compared to Uldren’s more curious gaze.

“Well, I think that answers that.” The young Ahamkara had made its way up Acantha’s arm, settling on her shoulder to peer right back at Uldren until he began to head back up the path, the Ahamkara coiled around Acantha’s neck and stayed.


End file.
